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F430 New owner diary inc. maintenance & upgrades

Hello Club Scuderia. I've used PistonHeads for a few years and have only recently started to frequent FL more often. The following thread is a copy and paste from my PH thread to date, which going forward will be updated here.

Those who have read my M3 thread will know I was hunting for a Rosso (red) Spider with tan interior, but in the end I decided I would be happier in something slightly more toned down. I put a deposit on this Grigio Silverstone Spider last week and will be collecting it at the beginning of August. The dealer is being very helpful in that respect by waiting for me to complete and move house; apparently a lot of his customers are collectors and don't tend to collect for anything up to six months - interesting!

I'm having the steering wheel trimmed to my own design by Jack at Royal Steering wheels.
He's starting on it when back from holiday on 4th September

I also found a photo online of another Grigio Silverstone car but with a red roof (I got the colour wrong in my original post; it's Silverstone not Titanio). I'm currently getting quotes for a roof re-trim.

I was initially very disappointed with the car, primairly I think because the build quality came as a shock after the kind of performance cars I've owned, and still do (M3). I wasn't quite prepared for what is considered 'normal' within the realms of supercar ownership! I would place the general trim/interior/bodywork fastening quality on par with a Mk4 Fiesta, but with a fabric roof. Don't get me wrong, it isn't terrible, but there is a gulf between it and for example my E46 M3, which let's face it is an old car now. I feel magazines and internet reviews serve to create a kind of romance and aura around these cars that in my opinion isn't fully justified.

I am perhaps being critical because I like well-made things and my expectations were off, but essentially a Ferrari is a great chassis and engine with some - very - nicely designed parts screwed on afterwards in a way only the Italians can. I've had a nosey around some of the trim and fastenings etc. and the best way to sum it up would be: good concepts but sometimes the execution is poor I will be improving some of the trim in due course.

Handling wise it is very good but I need at least another month with it before I've raised my driving to the point where I can explot its limits. On the legal side of a ton my modified m3 is a sharper handling car, and if there wasn't a power difference between the two there would be little in it on a twisty road, however the mid engine balance of the Ferrari can be felt at all times and in fairness as a car it doesn't begin to shine until well into prison-sentance territory. This is where the gap between the two cars opens up.

As other reviews have covered the F430 can pootle along quite happily if it needs to, though I have noticed that after 30 minutes or so of heavy stop/start traffic the clutch can judder so that's something that is best avoided. With the Manettino set to 'wet/slippery' the suspension becomes very pliable, comfortable in fact, though with eight ball joints linking wheels to chassis any transition in road surface is always immediately felt despite the comfortable damping.

The engine is as expected: a masterpiece. I thought the CSL airbox was glorious until I heard the F430; it has such vocal talent and such a wide range of sounds that one can almost play it like an instrument! Between 7k and 8.5k it's simply awesome and it's the first car I've owned that I would call fast. I think any more power than this would just frustate me on the public roads.

Back to the theme of the first paragraph, something has already gone wrong. I dropped off the car this morning to Graypaul in Nottingham as a section of the magnesium roof frame has cracked. I had the sense to buy an extended warranty but this part is being covered under the supplying dealers warranty. I've asked Ferrari to check over the roof to ensure there are no alignment issues or anything else - for example snapped elastic under the fabric - that will cause the issue to reoccur. I had to take a photo as I ended up parked next to a 458 also finished in Grigio Silverstone.

I did find last week that the car has Capristo brackets fitted to the rear silencer which is a sure sign the previous owner knew about the OEM manifold issue and F430 ownership in general, so that's good. In spite of the brackets I have just ordered a pair of stainless tubular manifolds as I couldn't shake the feeling that I was driving around in a grenade with the OEM manifolds still fitted.

I expect to update in a months time and by then have fallen in love with the car - it has happenend before

Scuderia Shield copies. These are gel badges and I've since decided to go for a replica enamel badge version produced by Jim 'Denver308' from Ferrari Life.

My replacement manifolds have arrived. They are mande by 'Top Speed' Top Speed Auto Accessories, Inc. and cost an incredible £655 including delivery for the pair. They are a 4-1 design which optimises power in the top end of the rev range. I chose them after looking at the alternatives;

Fabspeed/Agency power - Quality of construiction appears identical to Top Speed except for the flange, which is cast and of better quality. £1,600 ish
Capristo - As above excpet these are a 4-2-1 design which optimises mid-range torque rather than top end. £3,676.45.
Supersprint - Of the manifolds I have seen these are clearly the best design and quality. £3338.23Why am I replacing the manifolds? The OEM Ferrari manifolds contain a pre-car and are prone to cracking, and due to the route the primaries take around the chassis, debris can collect close to the exhaust ports and enter the engine on the over-run. The manifolds were revised in 2008 and called 'Mk2', but even these fail. I'm not interested in additional power but this is a welcome side effect due to the removal of the pre-cats in all of the after market manifolds.Why have I chosen Top Speed? I don't like how certain components attract a premium just because of the target vehcile or market, for example the often disproportionate cost of powder coating/refurbishing alloy wheels just because they are a car fashion accessory, or the price of certain components for premium or exotic cars. I chose the Top Speed manifolds because they are exceptionally well-priced and appeared in photos to be procuded to a standard which meant they comfortably out-lasted the OEM manifolds. I beleive they are new to market hence I was happy to treat them as an evaluation.

What are they like?
The manifolds have been TIG welded. It's not artwork quality but perfectly functional and decent quality. Material is T304.

Welding, O2 sensor, and cat flange detail.

The flange has been welded externally and internally. Internal welds are neat and have been dressed where required.

The manifolds have been constructed so that the steps from overlapped sections face away from exhaust flow, which is ideal.

This next photo shows the worst part for me: the joint and resulting radius of the rearmost cylinders could be smoother.

Mating face tolderance was circa 1mm. This is within spec for the composite gaskets supplied by Top Speed, but is boderline for a multi-layter-steel (MLS) gasket used on the OEM manifolds.